Location:
Call: 040 4488 5333
[email protected]

11 May, 2021

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection of a part of your urinary system, which includes your:

  • Kidneys
  • Ureters (Connects kidneys to your bladder)
  • Bladder
  • Urethra (a short tube that connects bladder to outside your body)

Bacteria cause most UTIs. It can affect anyone, but they’re most common in women, and it can me more frequent if you’re pregnant.

Why are UTIs common during pregnancy?

UTIs are common during pregnancy as the growing fetus can put pressure on the bladder and urinary tract. This traps bacteria or causes urine to leak.

There are also physical changes to consider. As early as six weeks of pregnancy, almost all pregnant women experience ureteral dilation, when the urethra expands and continues to expand until delivery.

The increased size of urinary tract, along with increased bladder volume and decreased bladder tone, all cause the urine to become more still in the urethra. This allows bacteria to grow.

To make matters worse, a pregnant woman’s urine gets more concentrated and it has certain types of hormones and sugar. These encourages bacterial growth and lower your body’s ability to fight off infection.

SYMPTOMS

If you have a UTI, you may have:

  • Urgent need to urinate or urinating more often
  • Trouble with urinating
  • A burning sensation or cramps in your lower back or lower abdomen
  • A burning feeling when you urinate
  • Urine that looks cloudy or has odor
  • Blood in your urine, which can turn it red, bright pink, or cola-colored

Incase of kidney infection, you may have:

  • Fever
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Upper back pain, mostly on just one side

If you have symptoms of a kidney infection, take treatment immediately as per your Doctor. Without proper treatment, the infection can progress and spread causing life-threatening conditions.

COMPLICATIONS

  • Preterm labor
  • Severe infection
  • Adult respiratory distress syndrome
  • Anemia
  • Long-term infection

PREVENTION

To try to avoid getting a UTI:

  • Drink minimum eight glasses of water a day.
  • Wipe yourself from front to back when you go to the bathroom and not back to front.
  • Empty your bladder before and after sex.
  • If you need a lubricant when you have sex, choose a water-based one.
  • Don’t douche.
  • Avoid feminine deodorants or soaps that cause irritation.
  • Wash your genital area with warm water before sex.
  • Wear cotton underwear.
  • Take showers instead of baths.
  • Don’t wear pants that are too tight.
  • Pee often and don’t hold urine for long hours
  • Avoid alcohol, citrus juices, spicy food, and caffeinated drinks, which can irritate your bladder.

DIAGNOSIS

After detailed history and examination, following tests might be needed depending on severity of infection-

  • Urine microscopy
  • Urine culture & sensitivity
  • Ultrasound pelvis
  • Xray-KUB

TREATMENT

Pregnant women should see their doctor if they have any symptoms of a UTI. Without treatment, a UTI can cause serious complications.

A 3-7 days course of antibiotics may be necessary to treat a UTI during pregnancy. Following antibiotics can be given only after urine culture & sensitivity-

  • Amoxicillin
  • Ampicillin
  • Cephalosporins
  • Nitrofurantoin
  • Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

Irrational use of antibiotics should be avoided as it leads to multidrug resistant infections in future.

If pregnant women develop a kidney infection during pregnancy, they will need hospitalisation. This treatment will involve antibiotics and intravenous fluids.

Recurrent UTIs might need prolonged Antibiotic Therapy upto 3-4weeks.

A short course of antibiotics does not cause any harm to a developing fetus. Research suggests that the benefits of taking antibiotics to treat a UTI are more than the risks of leaving a UTI without treatment.

  • Drinking plenty of water: Water dilutes urine and helps flush bacteria out of the urinary tract.
  • Drinking cranberry juice: Cranberries contain compounds that may help to stop bacteria from attaching to the lining of the urinary tract. This action helps to prevent and eliminate infection.
  • Urinating when the urge arises: This helps bacteria pass out of the urinary tract more quickly.
  • Taking certain supplements: A 2016 study found that a combination of vitamin C, cranberries, and probiotics may help to treat recurrent UTIs in women.

Vaginal Culture & Sensitivity: Examination to rule out vaginal infection should be done especially in cases of recurrent UTI as it occurs concomitantly.

SIMILAR ARTICLES

blog featured image

29 July, 2026

Irregular Periods: When to Investigate

Period irregularity is something many women experience at some point, and most learn to live with it, at least for a while. A late period during a stressful month, a lighter cycle after illness, a missed period after a long flight. These variations are common and usually self-correcting. The problem is that irregular periods are also how the body signals conditions that genuinely need attention, and because the irregularity can feel familiar, it is easy to keep waiting for things to normalise when they never will without proper evaluation.Knowing where the line sits between normal variation and something worth investigating is genuinely useful.What counts as irregularA normal menstrual cycle runs anywhere from 24 to 38 days, measured from the first day of one period to the first day of the next. Variation of up to eight days between the shortest and longest cycle is considered normal. Lengths ranging between 8 and 20 days of variation are considered moderately irregular, and variation of 21 days or more is considered very irregular.Changes outside the cycle length are also irregular. Periods that are either much heavier or lighter than normal, periods that are much longer or shorter than normal, periods between periods, and periods that are absent altogether, in a woman not pregnant, breastfeeding, or in menopause,
Read More
blog featured image

29 July, 2026

Fertility Decline: What Women Should Know

Conversations about fertility tend to happen too late. Women often begin thinking seriously about their reproductive timeline only when they are ready to conceive. At this point, some of the most important biological facts have already been playing out for years without their awareness. The decline in female fertility with age is one of the most consistently misunderstood aspects of reproductive health, and the gap between what women know and what the biology actually shows is significant.This is not about creating anxiety. It is about giving women accurate information early enough to make genuinely informed decisions.The Fundamental BiologyA woman is born with all the eggs she is going to have in her lifetime. Her eggs age with her, decreasing in quality and quantity. Age is the single most important factor affecting a woman's fertility.Females are born with a finite number of oocytes. The number of oocytes peaks in the womb at around 20 weeks of gestation and subsequently declines steadily until approximately age 32, after which the number decreases at a greater rate until age 37, beyond which oocyte numbers drop even more rapidly.This is not something that can be slowed by fitness, diet, or general good health. Even though women today are healthier and taking better care of themselves than ever before, improved
Read More
blog featured image

29 July, 2026

PMOS: Causes Beyond Hormones

Most patients understand Polycystic Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, or PMOS, as a hormonal condition. Irregular periods, elevated androgens, and ovarian cysts on an ultrasound. The hormonal picture is real, but it is only part of the story. Decades of research have made it increasingly clear that PMOS is far more complex than a hormonal imbalance in isolation. It involves the metabolic system, the immune system, the gut, and genetics, all interacting in ways that produce a condition that looks different in every woman who has it.Understanding the fuller picture of what causes PMOS matters because it changes how the condition is managed and why lifestyle interventions work as well as they do.What PMOS Actually InvolvesPolycystic Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome is a complex endocrine and metabolic disorder, typically characterised by hirsutism, hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, menstrual disorders, and infertility. The name itself reflects what the condition truly is. The metabolic component is not secondary to the ovarian and hormonal picture. It is central to it. Treating the hormonal symptoms without addressing the underlying metabolic drivers is one reason PMOS management often produces only partial results.Insulin Resistance Sits at the CentrePMOS insulin resistance, where cells throughout the body fail to respond normally to insulin, is considered the primary pathological basis for the reproductive dysfunction seen in PMOS.
Read More
Loading booking..